Emanuel Zammit pinpoints five reasons why counter-offers ‘do not work’ and should be avoided

Recruitment specialist Emanuel Zammit on Friday shared five key issues with counter-offers, stating that they “do not work” and why both employers and employees should avoid them.

“They might work in the short term, but surely not in the long term. Counter-offers can be a stall tactic and nothing else,” the GCS Malta Director – Recruitment Services & Business Consultancy explained.

Firstly, he pointed out that underlying issues are not solved by counter-offers. “People rarely leave a happy employment just for money. Money is usually an additional factor, but not the make or break,” he said.

Counter-offers also bring about uncertainty when it comes to an employee’s loyalty, as it “does not matter how good your relationship is with your employer, if you are receiving a counter-offer as a response to your resignation, your loyalty will be questioned”.

He also highlighted how a counter-offer could be a sign that an employee is not being appreciated. “Accepting a counter-offer may suggest that you were not fully appreciated before and they are only offering a counter-offer as a stalling move,” Mr Zammit added.

Such counter-offers are also not guarantees of job satisfaction, since people tend to hand in resignations and look for new jobs “when they are not satisfied with their current position”. “Various studies portray that around 50 per cent of people that accept counter-offers leave for a new job within 12 months,” he said.

Lastly, Mr Zammit explained that counter-offers also hint towards a long time before the employee will get another raise.

“If you were leaving your current employer because you felt you were not getting paid enough and the only way to get a raise was to offer your resignation, then the odds of you getting a raise in the future are slim to none,” he remarked.

He concluded by saying: “If you’re offering a counter-offer, or thinking about accepting one, think again.”

Talent Base Recruitment Specialist Marian Dudescu agreed with Mr Zammit, and said that employers should shift their focus to an “employee-retention strategy and analysing the satisfaction and dissatisfaction factors”.

“Eliminate whatever leads to dissatisfaction and improve the satisfaction elements. Once late, it’s just too late,” he added.

Mr Zammit's professional background is in recruitment, having first joined GCS Malta as Recruitment Team Leader in 2019, before he worked his way up the corporate ladder to also serve in various other senior roles within its recruitment and business development areas. He was promoted to Director – Recruitment Services & Business Consultancy earlier this month.

His experience also includes over a year at Reed Specialist Recruitment Malta, most notably serving as Senior Recruitment Consultant for seven months.